Why and Why Not Brother Eddie Villanueva

Brother Eddie Villanueva, a religious leader of one of the most prominent Evangelical group in the Philippines, the Jesus Is Lord Movement (JIL). Have been the best leader of JIL, have been in the ministry for many years, and have been a good model of leadership. He is the Founder of “Bangon Pilipinas Renewal Movement”.

He was a candidate in 2003 Philippine presidential election, but lost having one of the least votes among all the presidential candidates. Many evangelical churches and evangelical Christians supported him. But there were some who despised him. Why? What are the reasons behind? These are the questions that this post will answer.

I just want to make it clear though. This post is not a campaign, but a pulsing to whether or not Bro. Eddie should run for President of the Republic of the Philippines.

Brother Eddie Running For President, Again?

In one of the posts that one of my colleague made, he is against Bro. Eddie Villanueva for running. The reasons stated is not new. In fact, I have heard this from other people and pastors that I know. Well, I made this post for us to think and analyze the reasons behind it whether it is valid or have a solid Biblical support.

I quoted his article below:

My Reasons Why NOT to Vote Bro. Eddie

Yesterday at 10:53pm

Here are some of my simple personal reasons why I will not vote for Bro. Eddie, and why I think nobody should vote for him too:

I. I believe that there is no example in the Bible that Bro. Eddie is following regarding his running for presidency. Therefore, I believe that what he is doing is INCONSISTENT with Biblical heritage.

Examples:

1. In the Old Testament, Joseph the dreamer, Nehemiah, and Daniel could be considered to be the most righteous men in their respective times. They held very high political positions in their respective lands (Joseph and Daniel were next to the king in authority!). And they were considered to be the ablest and wisest leaders of their times. But in spite of these qualities, they NEVER tried to be a king in their respective lands which are all predominantly pagan. There are no indications in the Bible that they prayed and asked God to let them be rulers of the land. There are also no hints that they attempted any means to be king, though they could be three of the most “righteous kings” in the Bible. See Genesis 41:38-41; Nehemiah 1:11; Daniel 6:1-3.

Is Bro. Eddie more righteous than Joseph, Nehemiah, and Daniel, that God would grant him the national leadership that He did not give to those three? Would God allow an “evangelical” pastor to be a president of a predominantly non-evangelical country? Would “righteous leadership” work in a non-theocratic, non-evangelical country?

2. In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Apostles Peter and Paul were the most righteous, famous, and influential men among the godly people in their time (with Christ as the ultimate “Righteous Branch” of God).

Christ could have been the most righteous leader in the Roman government that time, but even when the people wanted and planned to make Him their leader and deliverer, Jesus evaded situations that might give the people a chance to make Him a king by force.

Peter was one of the most influential men in his time, possessing great authority from Christ (that even the Roman Catholic church claims that he is the founder of the Church and the first “pope”). But he just focused himself on preaching God’s Word and shepherding God’s flock until his death.

Paul was also one of the most influential, famous, and able leaders in his time. But he NEVER even mentioned of a desire to enter politics! He tried everything godly to win people to Christ and expand God’s Kingdom, and entering politics was NEVER one of his methods.

These are just three persons in the New Testament who were very zealous for God and for righteousness, but they NEVER used or even attempted to use politics as a means to fulfill God’s will!

II. I believe that a pastor who runs for president denies, leaves, and turns his back on his Divine calling. And he would inevitably start the impossible task trying to “serve two masters”.

The God-given responsibilities and duties of a pastor are clearly taught in the Bible, especially in the Pastoral Epistles. To run as president would jeopardize his main calling and responsibilities as an “under-shepherd” and he would predictably and eventually fail as a pastor.

2Timothy 2:1-4; (see also 4:1-5)

v1You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, v2and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. v3Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. v4No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

1Timothy 4:14-16;

v14Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. v15Practice these things, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress. v16Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

1Peter 5:1-4

v1So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: v2shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;b not for shameful gain, but eagerly; v3not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. v4And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

God will not hold his under-shepherds guiltless for abandoning His flock.

Zechariah 11:15-17

v15Then the LORD said to me, “Take once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. v16For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.

v17″Woe to my worthless shepherd,

who deserts the flock!

May the sword strike his arm

and his right eye!

Let his arm be wholly withered,

his right eye utterly blinded!”

III. I believe that Bro. Eddie disregards and disobeys Biblical commands to Christians on submission to authority and therefore disqualifies himself from his own slogan: “Righteous Leadership”.

Here are God’s commands that he fails to obey.

1Peter 2:13-17

v13Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, v14or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. v15For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. v16Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. v17Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

Romans 13:1-7

v1Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. v2Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. v3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, v4for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. v5Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. v6For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. v7Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

By: Ptr. Jan Ver G. Lagarejos

Below, I made the compilation of reactions and of course my personal opinion about this.

Lorenzo Sallong

Looks like you know a lot about politics… and how God selects a president who should be and who should not be in politics… Great points!!!

Jan Ver G. Lagarejos

i don’t know a lot about politics kuya, I just tried my best to observe how God works in human institutions and governments. thanks! i prayed that the Christians there will be spared and strengthened during the calamities. God bless you and your family bro.

Lorenzo Sallong

God bless you, too, Bro… Keep up the good work you started!!!

Mariam Sison

hhhmmnn…i agree with the part I.about part III…i don’t think that bro.eddie is deliberately disobeying and disregarding Biblical commands…but then again i’m no great fan of him either…

Mark Capule

I agree with Mariam. I think this accusation of disobedience lacks evidence. If Bro. Eddie is really disobeying the law, then it should be proven. I still respect “your personal reasons” for not voting for bro. eddie, however these still does not prove anything about Bro. Eddie. For me, he is still the best choice because he exemplifies the real … Read Moreheart of a FILIPINO CHIRISTIAN. May tunay na pagmamahal sa kanyang Diyos at sa kanyang Bayan! I will always vote for someone who is clearly God’s servant rather than the one’s who are clearly satan’s children. And for God’s calling, I think God can call a pastor even to be a President. When God calls, one must answer. God bless, Cousin..

Vincent OLaer

You have good reasons, but I disagree. In the Bible, the most stable times in the history of Israel was when they were lead by godly leaders. We have to remember that during those times, political leaders are almost the same as their spiritual leaders, just like the judges, and kings.

However, in the time of Jesus, they were already under the Roman empire so as their political leadership of Israel were only dummy leaders.

Saying that “Pastors who runs for politics are turning their backs from what they were called for” is merely an opinion and is NOT a Bible based belief. But I can respect that as well. … Read More

I don’t think that bro. Eddie disregards and disobeys God’s command. Was running for a political office insubmission to the authority??? Hmmm… I guess I would really think about that. The Philippine government is under the Philippine Law including the president and all other individuals in it. And certainly running for presidency is one of the rights of bro.Eddie as provided by the Philippine constitution. Where then is the violation and insubmission?

My simple reason why I should vote:

1. He is godly among all other candidates.

2. He is my brother in the Lord to which the Bible encourage us to give more favor for our brothers.

3. I believe he has the skills to run the government of course with background experience.

But why should I not vote?

1. I believe he doesn’t stand a chance against Noynoy. If Noynoy didn’t run, I will certainly be supporting Bro.Eddie.

2. I believe it is not the time for him to run again because there is a better contender against the administration. And supporting him will only divide the votes.

3. I believe he should give way as of now for Noynoy just like what Panlilio did.

The issue of disobedience of bro.Eddie is completely a BIASED judgment. I just can’t get it? Why there are ” Evangelical Christians” who says this against bro.Eddie? As for the moment, I believe he has been a righteous leader of JIL. And the issue of turning backs are just petty arguments WITHOUT a solid Biblical basis.

Lastly, for the 4 presidents that I lived my life with, it was during the time of Fidel V. Ramos that the Philippines experienced economic growth, moral recoveries, and a minimal form of corruptions which only remains in the local sector and not from the office of the president (to which of course Cory Aquino also did a good job on this).

Among Marcos, Aquino, Ramos, and Macapagal, who has the best administration? It was Ramos’ administration.

Who was the most godly among them and with a better understanding of God’s word? It was Ramos.

Well, that was just my observation.

Vincent OLaer

I would rather say good things to brother Eddie because he is my brother in the Lord. I DON’T SEE ANY DISOBEDIENCE ON HIS CANDIDACY. It’s just that I don’t think its time for him to run again. Furthermore, I believe saying good things for your brother in the Lord is more Biblical than commenting and judging a person who already did well in the eyes of the Lord.

I believe you have misquoted 1 Peter 2:13-17 and Romans 13:1-7.

Furthermore in point 1, they never tried to be kings obviously because first Israel was under God’s guidance and God raise political leaders in the person of “judges”, the one that has a “charisma”, filled by the “Spirit”. Does bro. Eddie doesn’t have charisma? If he doesn’t have it, how will you explain how did JIL grew?

From the time of King Saul, leadership is transferred by birth right. Of course David rose to power (which is not a descendant of Saul) because of God’s intervention. But still after David, leadership was through the blood line. Therefore, we cannot make that hasty statements.

In our time, leadership is through “Election”. You cannot go into political leadership without filing a candidacy to COMELEC and be voted by the people. Lastly, I think it is foolishness to say “I will win” without even running nor filing a candidacy.

Mark Capule

I agree with you vincent when you said,

“I believe he has been a righteous leader of JIL. And the issue of turning backs are just petty arguments without a solid Biblical basis.”

As well as to your other statement wherein you said, … Read More

“The issue of disobedience of bro.Eddie is completely a biased judgment.”

But I think we should still support Bro. Eddie Villanueva because he is not only a righteous leader of the church but he also has that GENUINE LOVE FOR THE PHILIPPINES.

I think Bro. Eddie also has these:

1. COURAGE

2. COMPETENCE

3. COMPASSION

And I believe he will win next year.

This is the time to have GENUINE CHANGE.

TRUE CHANGE CAN COME IN A CHANGED MAN.

Now, let us get your personal opinion. What do you think? Should Bro.Eddie run again for presidency?

13 Comments

oggie
on October 17, 2009 at 5:40 pm

The Millenial Kingdom will be a Utopia that the Lord Jesus will bring to earth. But scriptures show that even at that perfect time of peace and prosperity never experienced by mankind, the hearts of men will still be secretly and desperately wicked, unchanged even if the Lord will reign with His laws being followed. Externally men may follow Him, but internally, they will be rebellious, and will be judged at the end of that millenial utopia.

It doesn’t seem that you can change men’s hearts by ruling from the top. The only way hearts will be changed is—well, we have to believe the gospel and really believe with all our hearts in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So much for Christians getting voted into high office, and then using their influence to change the world. It hasn’t happened and it won’t happen. And it’s not the biblical way. To change the world is not really the purpose of the Great Commission, but to transform people, to rescue them from this world for citizenship in heaven.

In the USA, Huckabee, a Baptist Pastor, ran for president. He was not banned for doing so, and he had good platforms. Why not here, since the Philippines is basically a colony of the USA (surely, in the economic sphere)???

Christians may become careful in mixing politics and religion. They can be very cynical when religion invades politics, particularly, the politics in their home country. But they should be aware that even in religion, politics invades religion. There are always politics even in the churches, e.g., in choosing pastors, elders, deacons, etc. The politics can be good, bad, or ugly, depending on the church culture and polity. Politics and religion are so intertwined, not easy to separate, since people are basically political and religious (even the atheists, their religion being having no god) animals. The way people relate to each other is political in essence.

Related articles to the issue of mixing politics and religion are given by:

This is indeed a very controversial and debative issue on the relationship between politics and religion. Particularly, on mixing the two as in the case of Bor. Eddie running for president.

Since our constitution and gov’t is basically and ideally patterned after the “democratic” constitution and gov’t of it’s former imperialistic colonizer, the United States of America, a very related controversial issue is on this:

I believe that Bro Eddie is free to follow the convictions of his heart whether to run or not run for President of the Philippines. If God tells him to run, by all means he should run.

Now as to my choice of president, I, too, can choose kung sino iboboto ko. Sa Acts, dalawa lang naman qualification for those chosen to “wait on tables”—full of the Spirit and competence. Is bro. Eddie filled with the Spirit of God? Pwedeng kilatisin kung ano ang fruit of the Spirit na nasa kanya habang sumasali siya sa mga rallies at nagtatalumpati. Sabi ni cindy jacobs, oo daw. I reserve my right to judge his fruits. As to competence, what makes him competent to run the civilian-military affairs of this complicated and conflicted country? Is he a statesman? Is he a good hands-on manager? Is he a peacemaker? Personally, I think wala siyang executive experience. The polity of his religious group is not how this country is run; instead, it is theocratic. Authority is centralized in the leader. Wala namang naging leader kundi siya lang. Kung sakaling naging president siya, hindi siya pwedeng mag-preach tapos susunod na lahat. Hindi ganyan. Napakahirap. Kaya nga masisilipan siya ng question about the separation of church and state.

Please do know that all views are respected. This is just an answer to doubts against Bro.Eddie.

The issue of separation of church and state is just but a very small issue. Why are we so afraid that Bro. Eddie “might” influence the government with God and godliness??? That is the MAIN THING LACKING WITH THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT. I strongly believe that each Christian should wake up in day dreaming in bringing an honest government without godliness…

Another thing, about the experience, I believe you are not reading well the biodata of Bro.Eddie my friend. He is not only a religious leader perse, he is an economist, professor, business man, CEO of ZOE TV, the political leader of Bangon Pilipinas. Furthermore, who among the candidates have an “executive” experience in government?

Lastly, Bro. Eddie was a UP College of Law student (though was not able to finish it), but undeniably, he is not ignorant of the law about separation between the state and the church.
.-= Vince´s last blog ..Christ’s Life-Changing Claim =-.

well i used to be a jil member but not anymore. i have a high respect with bro.eddie but there are already many failed prophesies. Not only that. I don’t think its bro.eddie fault but i guess the people that surrounds him. Maybe its at fault.

what I hate about jil is that they are forcing all the members to donate here and there and also forcing us to choose him. It is like controlling us.

Why I am not in favor of the candidacy of Bro. Eddie Villanueva? Simply because he is a church leader and it may violate Article 2 Section 6 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution that states, “The separation of the state and the church shall be inviolable.”

He may step down from JIL leadership but there is a danger that the thin line that separates the church and state will be infringed.

As Christians, we should set an example on how to respect our laws. It may set a precedence for other religious leaders to run for a post just to have a political clout. And it is very frightening to think that my equal right as a Filipino will be endangered by sectoral (or should I say religious) biases.

Moreover, it is my conviction that Jesus desires that political power should be delineated from spiritual powers. As to quote Him, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God”. (Matthew 22:21. NLT)

I strongly believe that religious leaders should refrain from engaging in politics for sectoral and religious harmony amongst all groups in the Philippines.